It's no stretch of the imagination to say that Rod Serling's 1959 sci-fi drama 'The Twilight Zone' is a classic series that ranks up there with the best shows of all time. In fact, it's so obvious, it's almost a statement of fact cowardly disguised as an opinion. It's like people who say they are against war or don't like death. Really? Wow, that's bold.
So, Serling's creation is a classic. I can sit and bask in all its black-and-white glory, low budget effects and post-nuclear to-the-camera moralizing during New Year's Day marathons on the Sci-Fi Channel for hours on end. This is not 'the real' Twilight Zone' but UPN's debunked experiment to remake the series and update it for a new generation (hosted by a wildly miscast Forest Whitaker). However, I approach this show not as a cockeyed purist or one of the many pseudo-intellectuals who insists that entertainment was better back in the day. 'The Twilight Zone', and it's unforgettable formula, is exactly the type of series that can be resurrected and re-invented for future generations in response to the needs and fears of the current political and social climate of that generation. As it has already been tried once before in 1985 with lukewarm results.
